Barbara Veneri: Winners at Shields Nationals

Racing in Buzzards Bay outside Sippican Harbor wound up last Saturday with the finish of the 48th annual Shields National championship, hosted by the Beverly Yacht Club.

BARBARA VENERI

Racing in Buzzards Bay outside Sippican Harbor wound up last Saturday with the finish of the 48th annual Shields National championship, hosted by the Beverly Yacht Club.

Local yacht clubs wind up their racing season this weekend and head off to enjoy the fall foliage along the far shore or through one of the passages to Vineyard Sound, or perhaps they plan a weeklong voyage to the tip of Long Island.

But nearby, the Shields Nationals provided all the excitement good September sailing could muster. Plenty of wind and challenging conditions gave the racers more than a modicum of excitement.

Racing started with a mini-regatta Sunday, Sept. 16 (we brought you those results last week), followed by four days of practice and real racing off Centerboard Shoals in one of the most challenging venues around.

Beating out local favorite Bill Berry of the BYC was Tim Dawson of the Ida Lewis Yacht Club in Newport. Racing aboard Aeolus, Dawson and crew took four firsts in eight races for 11 points. Berry, aboard Syrinx, finished second with two first place finishes, beating Dawson in the first race for a point total of 20. In third place were John Burnham and Reed Baer aboard Grace, also from the ILYC, with 24 points and no firsts.

Another local favorite, Graham Quinn of Harding Sails and Shane Wells, sailing aboard Harrier, placed ninth, but took a bullet in the fifth race, beating both Dawson and Berry for an exciting finish.

All in all, the Shields racers, competing in 30-foot sleek boats built for racing especially in the hearty conditions present during the nationals, enjoyed great racing and excellent sail management and hosting by the BYC.

Here's how the 2012 Shields Nationals played out (position, skipper, boat name, affiliation, point total):

The Mattapoisett Yacht Club plans to induct its new slate of flag officers, including Meghan Girouard as the next Commodore, at the annual meeting and awards dinner, scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 13, at the Wamsutta Club on County Street in New Bedford.

Festivities begin at 6 p.m., and cost for the banquet and ceremony is $39. For additional information, contact Girouard by e-mail at meaghan160@hotmail.com. You should make reservations no later than Tuesday, Oct. 2.

As a relatively longtime sailor (27 years) in and around Buzzards Bay, I found this season to be frustrating — and more than a bit sad. For the past several years, after I down-sized to a 22-foot Bristol sloop (1972), I found it difficult to get across the bay for many different reasons: time, lack of crew, and, most importantly, difficult conditions.

If the wind blows at a healthy 13 to 15 knots from the southwest — or indeed from any direction — my boat seems just a tad too small to handle the rolling seas, wind and splash. Or maybe the skipper just doesn't want to put up with the challenge.

For 18 years, I owned and sailed a 29-foot yawl (Soverel, 1964), and, most often with friends and acquaintances, I could make my way to Cuttyhunk or Martha's Vineyard for a long day, overnight or weekend sail. Or, we could head to Hadley Harbor, Quissett or Kettle Cove for a day sail, putting down the anchor, rowing ashore and enjoying a picnic lunch in the roomy cockpit. In addition, I crewed aboard many smaller and larger boats, garnering experience and confidence — and making some rookie mistakes in the process. Fortunately, except for winding a dinghy painter around the rudder of a friend's boat, I did not do much damage.

Since the fall of 1996 when she turned seven weeks old, my constant companion aboard both the larger yawl and the smaller sloop — as well as a couple of dinghies — was Smokey, a miniature Schnauzer-terrier mix. She had her sea legs from her first sail to Hadley Harbor in September of 1996, and she was my bellwether in later years. If conditions turned tricky, she would attempt to jump into the motor well or try to get down into the cabin, places she never ever enjoyed in her younger days. That was my signal to think about what to do next.

When Smokey got frisky and refused to stay in the cockpit, I knew it was time to turn around and go home. My fondest memories of sailing with Smokey include watching her rise from a deep nap next to me or one of my sailing companions in the cockpit, lift her head above the gunnel and sniff the air from the land as we approached West Island from wherever we had spent the day or two or more.

Somehow, about a mile or so off, she would sense the sounds and smells of summer barbecues, beach days and general wanderings ashore, and perk up — ready to disembark as soon as we arrived at the dock or the mooring (sometimes, in her excitement, she'd misjudge the distance and plunge into the waters off the dock, dog-paddling until I picked her up by the loop on her doggie life jacket or until she reached the beach).

Smokey died in July two weeks shy of her 16th birthday, and I missed her every time I went sailing this summer — which, as in most past summers, was not often enough. Maybe that's why I didn't venture too far out most days, content with sailing in the same zone I sailed with Smokey the last few years as she ratcheted back from her constant patrols of the deck (fore, aft, and anything in between) in her younger years to that contented snooze position in the cockpit.

It just wasn't the same without her.

This is the final Sea Notes of 2012. Farewell to a great sea dog, and let's hope for more and better sailing in the days and years to come.

Barbara Veneri writes about boating and sailing for The Standard-Times. Contact her at bveneri@hotmail.com.

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